Body and chassis underframe



Aug. 29, 1944. J. LEDWINKA ETAL 2,357,043

BODY AND CHASSIS UNDERFRAME Original Filed April 20, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheetl INVENTORS: 51C143 Joseph Ledw'u'zka.

By John W- leu A TTORNE Y .Q 3 2 k 4 Rn a mml fiwn 7 m Nd VN 5 S EE M Ir 2 m w n LA s 1 0 m 2 W TJJ J. LEDWINKA ET AL BODY AND CHASSISUNDERFRAME Original Filed April 20, 1936 Aug. 29, 1944.

Patented Aug. 29, 1944 2,357,043 BODY AND CHASSIS UNDERFRAMEl JosephLedwinka and JohnrW. Kelly, Philadelphia, Pa., assignors to Edward G.Budd Manufacturing Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation ofPennsylvania Original application April 20, 1936, Serial No. 75,375.Divided and this application April 1, 1939, Serial No. 265,456

3 Claims.

The invention relates to a vehicle body and particularly to a combinedbody and chassis construction. More specifically the invention refers toa construction in which the underframe is coordinated with the bodysuperstructure to provide box section side sills which may extend fromend to end of the combined structure. This application is a division ofapplication Serial No. 75,375, filed April 20, 1936, on which Patent2,188,267, Combined body and chassis underframe was issued on January23, 1940, to the same applicants.

It is an object of the invention to simplify the construction of suchstructures and to lighten their weight without materially affectingtheir strength.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction whichpermits the use of light gauge stock and to so arrange the jointsenterng into the structure as to facilitate their attachment by spotwelding.

Other and further objects and advantages and the manner in which theyare attained will become'apparent from the following detaileddescription when read in connection with the drawin gs forming a parthereof.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 represents in side elevation a sedan type of combined body andchassis structure in'accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detailed sectional view through the thresholdsubstantially on the line indicated by the line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view on an enlarged scale takensubstantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction ofthe arrows.

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view through a cross member takensubstantially on the line 44 of Fig. 2.

Figs. 5 and 6 are sections corresponding to Figs. 2 and 3 showing amodified fcrm of the invention.

Figs. 7 and 8 are sectional views corresponding to Figs. 2 and 3 showinga further modification of the invention.

In a body according to the invention the sheetmetal body floor panelconstitutes a main element of the combined under'frame structure and mayextend from the extreme rear of the combined structure to the extremefront and from side to side of the structure. This floor panel isdesignated generally by the numeral 29 in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. At the frontit may be cut away in the central region to accommodate the motor and ateach side of this central opening it may be suitably reinforced by amarginal reinforce extending around theopening. Alternatively the floorpanel may end at the front in the region of the cowl and suitableseparate forward extensions for supporting the motor and the front wheelsuspension may be provided, such extensions being secured to thereinforced box section side sills of the underframe rearwardly thereofby a telescoping or other suitable joint. The present invention isconcerned more particularly with utilization of this floor panel to formbox section elements of the combined body and chassis frame, and thesheet metal body side panel indicated generally by the numeral 33 andextending from extreme front to extreme rear of the structure cooperateswith the floor panel in forming these box section structures. In thisway the combined structure may be built up with the minimum number ofparts and the marginal portions of the parts entering into the structureare so shaped as to facilitate their joinder by spot welding.

In the construction shown in Fig. 2, the floor plate designatedgenerally by numeral 29 is formed with a deep vertical web 30 which inturn is formed with a horizontally extending bottom flange 3|terminating in a downwardly extending edge flange 32. The body sidepanel 33 is joined at the bottom to the flange 32 and at the top thethreshold portion 34 terminates in an upwardly extending flange 35 whichis joined to the top of the floor plate 29 by a longitudinally extendingbridging strip closing the box and designated 36, this bridging stripbeing formed with an upwardly extending flange 31 overlapping and spotwelded to the flange 35 of the outer body panel, its inner marginoverlapping the top of the floor plate 29 and being spot welded thereto.In the wheel housing region where the outer panel 33 extends upwardly toform the upper part of the wheel housing, the flange 31 seats in anoffset provided in the outer panel and is spot welded thereto in theoffset. To space the top and bottom walls of the box in this region theouter panel 33 is offset slightly between the top bridging plate 36 andthe bottom outwardly extending flange 3| of the floor plate as clearlyappears in Fig. 3.

At suitable points the floor panel which itself forms a cross connectionbetween the side sills is further reinforced by transverse members ofchannel section, as indicated at 38 and 39 which are preferably formedof upwardly facing channel members secured to the floor panel to form astrong box section transverse reinforce between the sills.

In the region of the thresholds as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the upwardlyfacing channel cross To further strengthen the connection between thesecross members and the side sills, the laterally extending flanges 20"and2| are welded not merely to the single sheet of the floor panel but areextended underneath the inwardly extending double thickness of metalformed by the joinder between the bridging strip 36 and the floor plate29 and spot welded to this double thickness extension from the innersideof the box section sills. To still further strengthen the joinderbetween the cross members and the side sillsthe side walls of the crossmember 38 are laterally flanged at their ends as indicated at 22 and 23,see Figs. 2 and 4, and these lateral flanges overlap the vertical web 30of the floor panel forming the inner wall of the box section and aresecured thereto by spot welding. Similarly, an extension of the bottomwall of the channel 38 is extended and spot welded to the lower wall 3|of this box section side sill.

In the region of the wheel housing the cross member 39 forms in similarmanner a box section cross member with the floor plate 29 and is securedto the box section side sill extending through. this region insubstantially the same manner as in the form shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

In the modification shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the floor plate 40 isextended straight out to the body side panel 42 except for a slightupward offset in the region of the side sills and is flanged upwardly atits margin at 4| and secured to the body side panel indicated in thesefigures by numeral 42 in identically the manner in which the bridgingstrip 36 is secured to the side panel, in the modification of Figs. 2and 3. The outer panel 42 in this case forms the outer wall of the boxsection sill in the same manner as in the iormshown in Figs. 2 and 3,but the'inner wall of the box section and at least part of the bottomwall of the box section are in this case formed by a separate sillelement 45 of outwardly facing' channel section, the top wall of thechannel overlapping the floor plate 40 in the offset and being securedthereto by spot welding while the bottom wall of the channel is flangeddownwardly at 46 and secured through this flange to the lower margin ofthe body side panel 42 in the same marmer as that indicated in Figs. 2and 3. The cross members 41 and 48 are again secured to the floor plateand to the box section side sills in substantially the same manner asthat shown in the earlier figures.

In the modification shown in Figs. 7 and 8 the construction is verysimilar to that shown in Figs. 5 and 6 except-that a Z member 49 hasbeen substituted for the channel member 45 and the outer margin of thefloor plate 50 is offset downwardly to'form a'shoulder against which thetop of the Z member may seat, the top arm SI of the Z member beingsecured to the floor plate as shownand the bottom arm 52 being flangedin its margin at 53 and secured to the outer panel designated 54. inidentical the manner shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

The cross members 55 and 56 shown respectively in Figs. 7 and 8 aresecured to the side sills again in substantially the manner shown inFigs. 2 to 6. However, where the lateral flanges from the side walls asI! overlap the double thickness of th metal of the flange II and thefloor plate 50, they'are downwardlyoiiset as at 58.

In both these latter forms shown in Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 the floor platecombines with the outer side wall panel just as it does in the formshown in Figs. 2' and 3 to form elements of the box section underframestructure. It will be noted that in all embodiments a third membercooperates with the floor plate and the side panel to form the completebox section framework.

All of the modifications described lend themselves very readily tomanufacture out of light gauge metal, although in some cases theseparate side sill elements 45 and heavier gauge than the floor platingand the side paneling if desired for greater strength, and in all ofthese constructions use is made of both the sidepaneling and the floorplating to form elements of the box section side sill and cross memberstructures respectively, and the parts are so formed as tofacilitategtheir Joinder by simple spot welding operations. Othermodifications of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art,and it is desired in the following claims to include such modificationswithinthe purview thereof.

The specific construction of the side sills illustrated in Figures 2 and3 forms the subject matter of applicants application Serial No. 519,422,Combined body and chassis structure, filed January 24, 1944, as adivision of the present application.

What we claim is:

I. In a vehicle body, an upstanding side wall member, a floor panel, alongitudinal side sill member, a transverse sill member having one ofits ends rigidly fastened to said side sill member, said side sillmember being of hollow section form and having an open side.facing'outwardly in a direction'away from the longitudinal center 4line of the body, saidtransverse sill member being likewise of hollowsection form haying an open side facing upwardly, said open sides ofsaid sill members being closedrespectively by a lower marginal portionof said side ,wallmember and said floor panel, the latter having, itslongitudinal side margin additionally fastened to said side sill member.

2. In a vehicle body, an.underframe unit comprising longitudinal sidesill members interconnected by transverse sill members, said side sillmembers being of outwardly facing channel form and at least onetransverse sill member being of upwardly facing channel form, bodysidewall structures having their lower marginal portions fastened to theupper'and lower margins of said side sill members as to form closed boxsectional side sills, a body floor panel structure having its marginsfastened to said side sill structures and being furthermore fastenedalong transverse lines to the upstanding walls of said channel formedtransverse sill member as to form -a closed box sectional cross bracetherewith.

3. In a combined chassis and body structure substantially entirely ofsheet metal: a pair of transversely spaced longitudinal sheet metal sidesill members extending over substantially the entire length of thestructure including a threshand a wheel housing region; each of saidsill members having an upstanding arm, a horizontal 49 may be made 01'.

arm along the upper margin and a horizontally outwardly directed armalong the lower margin of said upstanding arm, and a downwardly directedflange along the outer edge of said outwardly directed arm; a pair ofbody sheet metal side wall panels provided with threshold and wheelhousing portions the lower margins of which overlap and are connectedthroughout their lengths to said flanges; a sheet metal floor panelextending longitudinally at least through the threshold and wheelhousing regions and transversely from side wall panel to side wallpanel; an upwardly directed flange along each longitudinal margin ofsaid floor panel; said floor panel resting on and being secured to saidhorizontal arms along the upper margins of said sill members andoverlapping and being secured to the interior of said side wall panelsby means of its marginal flanges; said sill members, said side wallpanels and said floor panel constituting together a combined body and achassis frame structure having closed box sectional. side sillsextending over the entire length of the body and their assembly beingfacilitated by the fact that said flanges connecting the sill membersand the floor panel to the side wall panels extend outwardly from thebox sections.

JOSEPH LEDWINKA. JOHN W. KELLY.

